The SARS epidemic has forced the Chinese government to pull out of the Venice Biennale, where the new China Pavilion—a first for the international show—was to include works by Liu Jianhua, Lu Shengzhong and Wang Shu, among others

Art Business News, July, 2003

* The SARS epidemic has forced the Chinese government to pull out of the Venice Biennale, where the new China Pavilion--a first for the international show--was to include works by Liu Jianhua, Lu Shengzhong and Wang Shu, among others. The pavilion is going on view instead in Beijing, which Biennale director Francesco Bonami said expresses "the true spirit of the Venice Biennale, going beyond its own borders and as a symbol of the larger world our institution wants to address."

Meanwhile, Taiwan, which has participated in the Biennale since 1995, is going ahead with its pavilion.